Friendly Competition

"You really expect me to be able to do something like that?"

After a couple seconds Tearia regained the ability to speak again. She had never seen something so mesmerizing or powerful in her entire life and while she knew her Grandfather was strong but never in her wildest dream did she think he was that strong. Yet as the lightning inside her danced in joy she could feel her own joy rising along with it at the thought of being able to do something similar one day though fear also lingered to. Hearing his Granddaughter's confusion Eli knew he might have messed up a little in his explanation. He didn't want her to do something like this but a much simpler version. "Maybe one day she could get to this stage as well. Though that's all up to her." Even for him he had his own struggles with this technique but maybe Tearia could do what he couldn't.

"Don't worry about copying me fully yet. For now I just want you to start with the basics together. How does that sound to you?"

"I can try.."

She was hesitant about even being able to do the basics but it was worth a shot and with her Grandfather as her teacher she was confident that she could get the basics down at least a little bit.

"Come here."

Beckoning Tearia forward to the training area he waited till she had arrived in front of him after a couple of seconds and gently smiled. Reaching down he grabbed one of her hands and gently lifted it up along with his to show her an example.

"We'll be starting simple. Learning how to control the lightning around your finger tips and then we'll move on from there."

Bringing sparks to life on his palm he brought them around in circles just like before in a little dance to show Tearia an example while the water fell around them but he kept that at bay for now.

"Build up lightning energy around your finger tips and slowly try and get it to coil around your fingers while staying calm as possible. Understand?"

"Yes"

Following her Grandfather's words Tearia slowed her breathing down as she entered her usual state for training and began to create Lightning inside of her. Feeling slight tingles she kept creating more until little sparks were inside her finger tips.

"Good now try and bring it outside. But be extremely careful."

Unlike most techniques and elements Lightning was probably one of the most dangerous if you lost control. The damage it could do to your body was immeasurable but like all others once you had control of that you wouldn't have to worry yet this technique ignored that rule. The higher stages you achieved with it the more potential for backlash and damage. Which led to a lot of injuries when he was creating it in his younger days and unfortunately one of the biggest flaws in it. "But the possibilities it offers instead were numerous." The peak of the technique was to eventually turn your whole body into lightning itself which is something even Eli only barely achieved and even then he couldn't hold it for long. Perfecting it was one thing he yearned for the most in this life but was never able to achieve. "But maybe you can Tearia." Watching the lightning smoothly leave her body as it coiled around her fingers that thought crossed his mind while being a little impressed at her speed.

"Good now, don't lose control."

Keeping her eyes closed Tearia continued to stay focused keeping the lightning in her control as best as she could but as time went on she was slowly losing her grasp on it until eventually."

"Ouch."

Wiping her hand back she quickly opened her eyes and noticed the tiny burnt marks surrounding her finger as pain throbbed through them.

"Are you okay?"

Panicking slightly Eli was able to compose himself. He knew mistakes could happen at this stage but thankfully they were all easy to handle.

"Yes I'm fine though that was a lot harder than I thought it would be."

Hearing her words he calmed down as he finally spoke up the words he should have from the beginning. Booming another wave of thunder entered their eardrums as he breathed out and spoke.

"Now Tearia, you've seen some of the difficulties of this technique and the dangers. I won't blame you if you want to back away now. It only gets worse from here so don't take this lightly. It's all up to you."

Locking eyes he refused to break eye contact as he waited for her answer. He wasn't lying when he said he wouldn't care if she chose not to but a part of him wanted to see where Tearia could bring it in her hands. He only had so long left to live and then this technique would disappear from the world forever and that thought made him a little sad.. He didn't want it or himself to fade from existence remembered by no one for what he was today even if others remembered his past self he didn't want that and it would also give Tearia something to remember him and her Grandmother by when they had finally passed on. So while it was a little selfish he didn't want Tearia to feel alone.

Breaking her grandfather's line of sight she stared at her hand and thought "He's right, that was way harder than I thought. Even just getting it outside of my body took a lot out of me let alone maintaining it." Looking at her fingers and still feeling the pain she knew how difficult this could be if she continued to learn it. "And the injuries are bound to get worse." Even now the pain she was feeling was quite a bit but if her Grandfather's words were true she could easily die if she messed up eventually but the power her Grandfather showed was something she wanted. "Will I really run from another challenge?....But can I even do this?" Thinking of Xelfia and the strengths ahead that she was hatred no longer came to her mind nowadays instead it was pure one sided competition that she slightly enjoyed. Maybe she would never be the only one in XIlo's life if he ever decided to forgive her but that didn't mean she couldn't be the best of them all but to do that she had to better herself and prove worthy of that. "Yet am I capable?" Staring at her hand those thoughts swirled in her head.

"Will this give me the things I'm looking for?"

"I can't answer that for you but It will help."

"Can I even do it?"

"Can you?"

Hearing his answers avoiding the questions she asked Tearia sighed as she continued to think. "Can you eh?.....I think I....." Finally getting her answer she hesitantly spoke her answer as her resolve grew stronger then ever.

"I want to continue learning it from you."

"Perfect."

Smiling he rubbed Tearia's hair slightly as he felt a little lighter than before.